


A Series of Unrelated Events: Marauders' Era

by Tsubasa Kurono (kurotsuba)



Series: A Snitch in Time: Harry Potter and a Series of Unrelated Events [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Azkaban, Canonical Character Death, Case Fic, Challenge Response, Character Death, Comedy, Contest Entry, Crack, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Dark Comedy, Diary/Journal, Epistolary, Experimental Style, F/M, Gen, Godric's Hollow, Grimmauld Place, Hogwarts, Humor, Humorous Ending, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Inspired by Novel, Legilimency, Letters, M/M, Marauders' Era, Minor Character Death, Murder, Murder Mystery, Mystery, Nursery Rhyme References, One Shot, Original Character Death(s), Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Parody, Polyjuice Potion, Potions, Potions Class, Potions Masters, Trolling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-11
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-03-03 13:44:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13342479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kurotsuba/pseuds/Tsubasa%20Kurono
Summary: A collection of oneshots based on J. K. Rowling's Wizarding World, specifically the Marauders' era. Most are written for FanFiction.Net forum competitions, contests, challenges, etc.[IRREGULAR]Latest:"Who Killed Crooked Robin?" - when newlywed Arthur Weasley puts on Sherlock Holmes' thinking hat to solve a little muggle murder mystery"The Lost Diary of Lily J. Potter" - a series of events leading up to the death of Harry's parents, Lily and James Potter, retold and expanded in epistolary format





	1. The Poly-pumpkin-juice Potion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James is willing to fight with everything he has for Slughorn's Felix Felicis, except that he has two obstacles standing before his way to Liquid Luck. Then everything snowballs into uncontrollable chaos...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **WARNING: This is a troll fic. Don't like, don't read.**

To the sixth-year James Potter, Potions was both his favorite and most despised class at Hogwarts. Favorite mostly because of his longtime crush—Lily Evans—seated at the table before him, and partly because getting on Professor Horace Slughorn's good side was a piece of cake, so long he could slip something of decent rarity into the Head of Slytherin's greedy hands. The bad? It was obviously none other than the slimy oddball at the other side of the classroom, huddled with the cronies from his own house.

Severus _Snivellus_ Snape.

Not that he, the most brilliant student of his cohort, was bad at the subject. James had no complaints of being beaten by Lily the Potions Mistress, but he didn't like being in third place after Snape—an insult to James' intelligence and skills!

His best friend and number one partner-in-crime, Sirius Black, didn't even need Legilimency to read James' mind. "So, Snivelly beat you _again_ in last week's quiz," said Sirius in a low voice, leaning closer to peek at the grade on James' paper. "I already gave up keeping track of your losing record since the OWLs."

James rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. You're just jealous that I'm ranked above you."

"I just find it amusing how much you've changed all because of a _girl_ ," Sirius snorted, eyeing pointedly at Lily who was sitting in front of his friend.

"…Shut up."

"Mr. Black," Slughorn's pompous voice boomed at the two Gryffindor boys, trying to get their attention back to today's lesson. "Would you be kind to tell the class the total approximate time required to brew a Polyjuice Po—"

"One month," Sirius answered without giving Slughorn a glance, still staring at his friend. "Honestly James, it's weirder now that you aren't much of a toerag anymore."

Sirius' comment was, unfortunately, loud enough to cause raised eyebrows across the class. Any ordinary person would have wished to die from shame, but James was too _extra_ ordinary to feel any embarrassment at the blatantly obvious insult from his best pal.

"Well, isn't that great?" James replied, blinking once at Sirius in mock bewilderment. "I'm doing Hogwarts a favor by being an obedient boy for the remaining two years I'm here."

James' only response was complete silence in the dungeon, sans the bubbling cauldrons over the crackling fire. Nobody was amused at his terrible joke; not even the Marauders.

"Boys," Slughorn sighed at them to break the awkward stillness. "I'd appreciate if you can do me the same favor by paying attention to my class, and not exchanging sarcasm behind me like bickering housewives."

That did shut James and Sirius up, in the midst of scornful sniggers from the Slytherins and resigned facepalms from the students of other houses. Lily, however, threw a look of disdain at James before turning her back firmly at him, determined to ignore him for the rest of the lesson.

If James was oblivious to the whole world around him, at least there was one thing he couldn't turn a blind eye to. "Now you've done it," he hissed to Sirius from the corner of his mouth. "You made her angry at me."

"You're unbelievable," Sirius was at his wit's end. He raised his hand to get Slughorn's attention. "Professor, I think James is probably drunk on a powerful love potion. Do you have any antidote to put him to sleep this instant?"

Slughorn glanced between James and Sirius with a frown, not at all pleased to have such an important class being disrupted every few seconds. "…Well, did he?"

"Professor," Lily was even more annoyed at the escalating stupidity. "May I request that the class continues on without any further interruption? There are some of us who are here to study, unlike a certain insufferable bigot over there." She glowered at James to make her point.

James went rigid in his seat, his cheeks felt a little hot at the eye contact (even if the reason was something completely different). As much as he was aware of his own arrogance, he wasn't exactly as insensitive as he appeared to be. After six long years at Hogwarts, he was slowly—but surely—growing out of his spoiled self, becoming more mature.

Definitely more mature than the likes of Snivellus Snape, of course.

The rest of the lecture went without another hiccup from James' love-sickness, and soon the students were given their first project-based homework: to correctly brew a Polyjuice Potion by the end of the month, and the best sample would receive a phial of Felix Felicis from the professor.

Now that was what James would call a real motivation. _Who doesn't want to have a bit of Liquid Luck for a good day?_ He couldn't help sneaking another glance at Lily's willowy back as the class was dismissed.

"I won't let you have that thing, Prongs," Sirius had to spoil his moment with a snide mutter. "The fight is on."

"Not me—I'm only third in class, remember?" James rolled his eyes at his friend. "In fact, we'll have to join forces if we ever want to beat the top two in Potions before us." His sight landed on the departing figure of Snape trotting behind his Death Eater buddies.

* * *

A month had passed in a blink of James' drooping eyes. Among all the students, only Lily, Snape, James and Sirius managed to successfully brew the Polyjuice Potion. Peter Pettigrew had screwed up the order of the preparation process, and the end result was a watery yellow-brown mess that smelled like piss. Remus Lupin had forgotten to add lacewing flies; James knew that he didn't brew it properly on purpose, to keep his werewolf identity a secret.

"Excellent!" Slughorn seemed to be in a great mood today. "I didn't expect to have more than one or two to actually made this far, but to think I'll see four! A new record! Wonderful!"

The professor paced back to the front of the classroom and clapped his hands together. "However, only one winner will walk away with the lucky potion, so here comes the real test." The smile on his face widened. "You will add a bit of your partner's hair into your potion, and transform into your partner. Whoever can stay in their disguised form the longest will earn themselves this little bottle." He gestured to a phial filled with molten gold-like substance in the middle of the teacher's desk.

James had to set his jaw to stop his face from breaking out into a grin. For the sake of winning this personal contest with his arch-nemesis (and even his unrequited lover), he had spared no effort in getting the best ingredients with the equally sleepy Sirius in tow. He even had to thank Remus for discovering a wild bush of quality knotgrass just a little way outside of the Shrieking Shack.

He snipped a lock of dark hair off Sirius' bangs, and the latter did the same to James. James dropped the hair into his own Polyjuice Potion, where it immediately turned into an orange-red liquid. It reminded him of pumpkin juice… and the thought made him shudder a little. He probably wouldn't see his house's trademark drink the same way again. Out of the corner of his eye, he was relieved to know that Lily had chosen to take the hair of another Gryffindor girl, while Snape was bullied into using Mulciber's hair.

"Here goes nothing," James muttered to himself as he took a swig of his potion—Sirius' essence tasted like roasted turkey—and he started to feel like his entire body was on fire. He slammed the emptied glass on the table, gripping the edge with his other hand as he swallowed down the urge to scream at the agony.

As sudden as it had come, the pain stopped, and James straightened up from the table. He felt woozy when he looked through his glasses, forcing him to take it off to see better. Was his eyesight that bad? He also felt a little taller, and became aware of the strange stares some of the girls were giving him.

Was this how it felt like to be Sirius? To see things from his perspective?

As the lesson went on, the disguises of the four weren't showing any signs of wearing off. Slughorn was amused.

"I see that the four of you sure have put in a lot of effort in your Polyjuice Potion." The professor gave a sideways glance at the Felix Felicis on his table. "Seems like I'll have to wait for another day to make the final verdict."

"Professor," Lily asked, a slight anxiety in her voice. "Shouldn't the effect be wearing off after an hour or two?"

"Usually, yes," Slughorn replied, looking between the four with a hand under his chin. "But an unusually well-brewed Polyjuice Potion can allow the drinker to stay in disguise up to twelve hours."

" _Twelve?_ " Lily exclaimed. Regret began to show on her face.

"Don't worry," Slughorn tried to reassure the Gryffindor girl. "Polyjuice is only used for human transformations—which all of you did splendidly—so there shouldn't be any complications to revert you all back to normal."

James glanced at Sirius, who had already fallen asleep on the table with the former's appearance. It still felt weird to James to see his own face on someone else's. Guess he'd be stuck as Sirius Black for the rest of the day.

Which James would soon realize that being Sirius Black was much more than he could've bargained for.

* * *

No one else beyond Potions class knew about the identity switch. The moment he had sat down at the Great Hall table (as Sirius), he was immediately swamped by a parliament of owls, filling his area of the table with parcels of various sizes.

"Still as popular with girls as ever, eh?" one of the boys around him teased. "Better throw those spiked with love potions away. Girls in love can be really scary sometimes."

James didn't know how he should react. He only had eyes on Lily ever since Day One at Hogwarts. "Yeah, right. Sure."

The boy stared at him. "You seem… different today."

"Really?" James could only manage a weak smile and left the Great Hall in a hurry. How was Sirius able to keep up with such madness for six years?

He almost bumped into Sirius—still disguised as James—as he rushed back to the Gryffindor Tower. Sirius was in as much shock as James was. "Whoa, that scared me."

"Me too."

The silence between the pair continued on as they sat across each other in the armchairs. "This feels… really weird," Sirius began, adjusting the glasses on his face. "And you have a terrible eyesight."

"…Yeah."

"There's something I've to tell you." Sirius looked to the side. Taking in a deep breath, he blurted out, "I'm sorry."

James was confused. "About what?"

"Well…" Sirius scratched the back of his head—or the head that looked like James, or whatever—and continued slowly, "Peter wanted to help you and tried to jinx Lily and Snivellus' cauldrons, but the spell backfired and blasted their potions, including mine."

James bolted upright in his seat. "Wait… WHAT?"

"As a last resort, we had to use your Polyjuice Potion as a stand-in to refill all the destroyed cauldrons, or else it'd be suspicious." Sirius shrugged. "But I wasn't expecting your potion to be this effective."

" _You didn't!_ " James roared, pulling out his wand and fired a curse at the guy he thought was his best friend. " _Tell me you didn't!_ "

"I said I'm sorry!" Sirius yelped, jumping out of his armchair to dodge the spell before pulling out his wand to defend himself against James' wrath. "It was all an accident!"

* * *

The chaotic wand duel in the Gryffindor Common Room became a shameful topic that not even Minerva McGonagall, the Head of House for the Lions, would ever want to talk about, but it became one of the many incidents that led to Lily's acceptance for James. Even she came to believe that Sirius was the one who had finally snapped at James, not the other way round, thanks to the power of rumors and gossips.

A white lie that only James and Sirius knew the truth. A secret bond that further deepened the boys' friendship.

It all began with a mess, and everything ended in a mess.

All was well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompts:  
> THC | [Y1R9] Short | [Pairing] James Potter/Sirius Black  
> Hogwarts School | [Daily Challenge] Oct 3, 2017 | Write about one of the Marauders  
> HPFC | Blood Traitor Challenge | James Potter, Sirius Black


	2. Who Killed Crooked Robin?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who killed Crooked Robin?  
> I, said the Bloody Sword  
> With my frozen blade to the ward…

Spinnet Yard was a small town somewhere in the London suburbs, a quiet residential area with rows of houses arranged neatly against the road line. Each of these houses had a backyard of their own, which was filled with blood-red roses planted by each resident, all in full bloom under the midday sun.

Around the bend in an alleyway that would lead up to the main street, there was a faint pop before a man appeared out of thin air on the road. If anyone had seen him, they would be astounded at how out of place this person was. The man wore a reddish-brown traveling cloak over a checkered shirt; he had a gold pocket watch in one hand, and a wooden stick in the other. Perched on his head was a pointed hat, with bits of ginger hair poking out underneath the wide brim.

Arthur Weasley sighed as he placed the watch back into his shirt pocket. He removed the hat from his head and pulled the traveling cloak off his shoulders, then he stuffed the cloak into the upturned hat. With a swish of his wand, the hat disappeared from his hand. Satisfied, he hid the wand down the front of his shirt and strolled out to the main street.

The town was deadly quiet; not a single person was in sight on the road. Arthur glanced around, feeling a little unnerved at the stillness. He pulled out the letter to double check the address.

"I'm pretty sure it's around here…"

"Arthur!"

He almost jumped at the voice that suddenly called out behind him. Turning his head slowly, he was relieved to see it was a familiar face. "Oh Brenda, it's you."

The lady's smile widened as she brisked towards him, then she gave him a warm hug. "It's been a long time since we've both graduated from Hogwarts. I heard you're working for the Ministry of Magic now."

"Junior Officer in the Improper Use of Magic Office," Arthur replied, stepping back to break the hug. "How about you?" He gestured at the town. "How does it feel returning back to Muggle life after being surround by magic for seven years at Hogwarts?"

The lady chuckled at his eager tone. "Nothing exciting worth mentioning. I'll show you to my house."

* * *

Arthur followed the lady to her cottage, squeezing himself through the gate with a cutely decorated sign with the name: _Gordon_. He was amazed at the roses that filled the garden before he reached the front door.

"Seems like everyone here has roses in their yard."

"Yeah, hence why we're also known as Rose Town," Brenda Gordon said, and she showed Arthur to the living room. "Make yourself comfortable. Tea, or alcohol?"

The wizard could taste the smell of pan-fried fish in the air. "Let's go with tea. Having a fishy meal for lunch?"

Brenda froze for a moment, then she laughed, albeit with a hint of nervousness. "That's a terrible pun there. You haven't changed one bit." She placed a cup of hot tea before Arthur. "So, tell me about you and Molly. How's life after that lightning-quick marriage?"

"It's insane," Arthur replied, taking a sip of tea. "Like you said, everything's rushed and all, with the fear and uncertainty because of You-Know-Who." Then he sniffed the air again and stood up. "Are you sure you don't need to watch over the stove?"

Brenda blinked. "Well, I can't cook with magic here, so it's going to take longer—"

"Really?" Arthur glanced at his Muggle-born former schoolmate with an arched eyebrow. With the cup of tea still in his hand, he walked over to the kitchen.

On the blazing stove fire was a huge cooking pan, and a big slab of tuna meat was sizzling away in it. While Molly was the cook at home now, he still knew enough that something didn't seem right to him… but what was it?

Picking up a fork from the kitchen drawer, Arthur poked at the tuna. As he had expected, something felt wrong.

"Are you living alone?"

"No, not really." Brenda shook her head. "I'm still staying with my dad. My mum had passed away when I was in my fifth year, remember?" She waved him off when Arthur opened his mouth to apologize. "It's fine, I've gotten over it."

"By the way, where's Mr. Gordon? I'd like to greet him."

"Dad's probably still in his study," Brenda said, glancing up at the second floor. "I'll go fetch him."

However, Arthur was totally unprepared for a blood-curdling scream that shook the house moments later.

* * *

On the floor of Mr. Gordon's study room lay the lifeless body of the man himself, facing down in a spread-eagled position. There was some blood on the back of Mr. Gordon's head, presumably being hit by something hard enough to crack his skull, causing his death.

Arthur shook his head after he checked the pulse. "He's dead."

Brenda was in shock. She stood frozen at the door, staring down at her dead father with wide eyes. "What… How…" Then her knees buckled and she sat down on the ground with a thud. "Why…"

"You need to calm down," Arthur said as he rushed to her side, pushing his half-finished tea into her trembling hands. "Here, drink this. I'll help you downstairs."

Nodding, she rested her weight against the redhead wizard and the two of them descended to the ground floor. Arthur guided her to an armchair. "I'm sorry that this has happened," he started off, pulling out his wand. "Did anyone come here this morning, before you went out to meet me?"

Brenda shook her head, dabbing her teary eyes with a napkin.

"Do you mind if I look around your house for a bit?"

"Y-Yeah."

Leaving the distraught woman to recover from her shock, Arthur went back to the study room and examined every inch of it, muttering spells under his breath. " _Specialis Revelio… Homenum Revelio…_ "

Nothing. The frown on Arthur's face deepened. It seemed like Mr. Gordon's death wasn't caused by magical means, nor was there any unwelcomed outsiders hiding in the house. He studied every single object in the room: the neatly arranged books on the shelves, the tidy desk, the dustless carpet… but he couldn't find anything that could be a murder weapon.

What if the weapon wasn't in this room anymore? Where else could it be hidden?

Arthur widened his search to the other parts of the house—his cheeks felt hot when he had to check out Brenda's room just to be sure—but everything was in order, nothing out of place.

There was only the kitchen left.

Arthur stared down at the simmering tuna in the frying pan once more. Of all the things in this house, the tuna had been tugging at his mind the whole time… but he couldn't quite put his finger on why he had a strange interest for a food that was normal in both the Muggle and magical world. When he had first seen the frying tuna, he was confused why the pan was filled with water. Then, when he had poked the meat with a fork, the tuna was still rock hard.

Why was the tuna still frozen when he could already smell the fragrance of it filling up the house?

The conclusion that Arthur had arrived at was something he didn't like at all.

* * *

"Arthur…? W-Why are you doing this?"

Arthur sighed, watching a frightened Brenda squirming in her armchair, trying to break free of the vines he had conjured to tie around her. He pointed his wand at his friend, locking his gaze with hers.

"It was you, wasn't it?" he said in a low voice. "You killed your own father."

"Arthur," Brenda was exasperated. "This isn't a time for your usual jokes—"

"I'm being very serious here," he cut her off. "The murder weapon… It's the tuna fish in the frying pan. You were trying to get rid of the evidence before I showed up, but you were in such a hurry that you had forgotten to thaw it first."

After a long silence, Brenda slumped into the armchair, a look of defeat on her face. "You're right, it was me. I killed my own father."

"But why would you do something like that?"

"Why, you ask?" Brenda snorted at him, letting out a sarcastic laugh. The nice and cheerful Brenda that Arthur always knew at Hogwarts was gone, now replaced by a crazed woman with a murderous sneer on her face. "A pureblood wizard like you who have been living in the magical world throughout your entire life won't understand. It makes me want to laugh at your mad love for Muggle things. You're ridiculously pathetic."

"…What has happened to you?"

"I hated living in this shithole," Brenda spat, her eyes flashing with anger. "Going to Hogwarts felt like a dream came true, a chance for me to leave this hell and find my own place in the world of magic… but my dad wanted me to take over the family business. I don't give a damn about this crap town, and I don't want to live here and pretend that I'm a normal Muggle for the rest of my life. I'm a bloody witch, for Merlin's sake!"

"But…" Arthur could feel his impression, his memory of the good friend who had shown him the wonders of the Muggle world shattering into a million pieces before him. "Do you have to go that far to murder your only family left?"

"Why not?" Arthur could feel his skin crawl at the grin on Brenda's twisted face. "He's my biggest obstacle to the life I've always yearned for, to the freedom I've always wanted. He deserves to die for the sake of his daughter's happiness! What's wrong with that?"

" _No,_ " Arthur breathed, tightening his grip on his wand, still pointing it at Brenda. "If killing someone is your way of joining _my_ world, you are wrong."

He pulled out another wand—Brenda's wand—and he watched the smile on Brenda's face being wiped off, realizing what he was going to do.

"Whether you're a witch or a Muggle, no one will allow a murderer to walk free without atoning for your sins. You don't belong in either world… only Azkaban awaits you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt:  
> THC | [Y3R5] Additional | [Genre] Mystery


	3. The Lost Diary of Lily J. Potter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A series of events leading up to the death of Harry's parents, Lily and James Potter, retold and expanded in epistolary format.

Dear Harry,

I hope this package can find you well. I apologize for detaining this in my office for quite some time, but now I can return it to you. It's rightfully yours.

This diary came into my attention during one of the raids on Mundungus Fletcher's many hideouts. There had been reports of him attempting to sell cursed items to unsuspecting wealthy Muggles to try and make a fortune out of them. This item was among the many things I had seized from his stack of stolen artifacts from Sirius' house—well, yours—at 12 Grimmauld Place.

Don't worry, it has already been checked and cleared of all enchantments. I can safely give this diary to you, and it's just in time as a present, too.

Happy Birthday, Harry!

Yours,

####  _Arthur Weasley_

P.S. Please send my regards and well wishes to Ginny, and congratulations on your third child. I hope you two can bring baby Lily Luna around to visit Molly. She'll be overjoyed.

* * *

**ENTRY #1**

At Professor Dumbledore's request—well, it was technically an order—James and I had to abandon our old house in London, and we moved to Godric's Hollow. I remembered that it was a cold, snowy night when we Apparated at the village, after taking a roundabout route to throw off anyone who might be tailing us. The place was dead quiet; even James didn't like the eerie silence as he dragged me towards the cottage a short walk away from the cemetery.

Just as Professor Dumbledore had said, it was a humble house—two stories high with a nice slanted roof like our previous home. The house was clean and scarcely furnished; it felt as if someone would come around periodically, but they wouldn't stay here for long. I recalled someone in the Order said that the Headmaster had lived here in his youth, though she didn't go on to tell me why Professor Dumbledore never told us about his past before he became a teacher at Hogwarts. Dumbledore struck me as a very mysterious person: full of wisdom, sometimes stern, other times like a loving grandfather. It felt as if he had been through a rich, dramatic life to gain such enlightenment, such deep insight into the dark times we were living in now.

"Lily," James breathed, looking at me with those shining eyes that I loved (and hated at the same time, because it usually meant something I didn't want to hear or do). "This is brilliant. I love this house. Since we'll be living here from now on, let's do our best to make it feel like home."

"James," I could only sigh at my husband, who was already examining the grandfather clock in the living room like an excited little boy exploring the wonders in his secret base. "We still need to thank the professor properly for lending this house to us."

"I know." James rolled his eyes at me. "But we won't be able to see him often. He's getting busier especially now that Voldie has gone after us, three times to boot. The Lestranges are going after the Longbottoms. We're being targeted left and right. Dumbledore is concerned about information leaks. We can thank him later if we can all survive through this, after this war is over."

I knew a losing battle when I saw one.

* * *

**ENTRY #2**

I could never leave house decorations to James. Sure, he had matured splendidly after we started dating in our seventh year, and I knew that he was a man with a heart of gold, but sometimes I couldn't help feeling wary about his old habit of turning even the most mundane things in life into a stupid prank. Sometimes they were really hilarious, like the time Sirius used the joke shampoo James had sent him on his birthday and he visited us with a rainbow afro, but other times they felt… wrong. I don't know.

"James," I almost had a shock of my life when I woke up the next day to see the horror my husband had done to our living room. "Stop, this is getting out of hand."

"What do you mean?" James pouted, gesturing his attempt to turn the room into an indoor Quidditch pitch. "We can't go out like we used to now. With the Fidelius Charm already in place, we're literally imprisoned in our house until who-knows-when."

"But…" I glanced around at the state of the living room, exasperated. "You can't fly a broom in the house. You know that, don't you?"

"This isn't for me," James paused his handiwork and turned around to face me. "This is for our future." His eyes traveled down to my middle.

I didn't know if I should be angry at his crazy antics with the room, or be happy at the suggestion we should consider having a child together.

"It'd be great if we can have enough kids to form a Quidditch team!"

Okay, now I should be angry at this Quidditch idiot. This needs to stop.

* * *

**ENTRY #3**

They always say that women are fickle beings. We are more emotional than men are, and our feelings burn more passionately than men could.

But I digress.

Our baby had been growing steadily well in my womb—I'm five months pregnant now—and I had been spending most of my time knitting clothes for this little one by hand. I refused to use magic even though I knew it'd be much faster. I felt a better sense of accomplishment if I could do this the hard way.

But coming back to my sentiment about the saying, how could I get emotional when there was someone else far more excited than I was?

James had stopped doing crazy things around the house ever since I was three months pregnant; instead, he was completely spoiling me by not letting me do any housework at all, and just focus on making sure our boy would grow up healthily inside me until the time comes for him to greet the world. Of course, I didn't comply at first, and I was right not to.

James was the last person I'd ever imagine who had any experience with housework.

Well, after months of practice (and taunting from Sirius whenever he came to visit us), James was so good now that he could put me, the supposed housewife, out of my job, but the first time he tried to clean the house was a disaster that I never wanted to remember.

It took us two weeks to replace every piece of furniture at home after he attempted to charm a mop to wash the floor. The mop washed literally _everything_ —including the walls and ceilings—and almost choked us to death with bubbles in our faces. Everything smelled like lavender for at least a whole month, enough for me to hate anything lavender for a long time.

I still hate the smell of lavender, even now.

* * *

**ENTRY #4**

Today was a big day for James and I. Our first child, Harry, was safely born… after twenty painful hours of trying to push this stubborn little one out to meet the world.

"He looks just like me," James said, stroking the baby's cheeks. Our son giggled at the touch. That made me jealous.

"Hey," I breathed, still feeling weak from the delivery. "The mother… is always the first… to see and touch her child."

"Lily, please." James rolled his eyes at me. "He's _our_ child. We will both take care of him together. Or are you actually jealous because Harry is a mini-replica of me?"

"I… am… not."

"He has your eyes, though," James went on, placing Harry next to my pillow. "The same lovely green eyes as yours."

"R-Really."

When Harry's small green eyes met with my bigger ones, I couldn't help cracking a smile.

* * *

**ENTRY #5**

It was supposed to be a joyous day today—it was Harry's first birthday—but the situation outside our haven was grimmer than we had originally thought.

"I'm sorry, James, Lily," Sirius said, watching little Harry flying around the house on the toy broomstick—his present for our boy. "Both Voldemort and the Ministry are closing in on me, and Dumbledore suggested I should go into hiding also. This is probably the last time I can visit you two."

"We're alright, Sirius," James said, patting on his best friend's back. "You should take care of yourself. As long as you're safe, we'll be safe, too."

"About that…" It was the first time I saw Sirius this hesitant. He always gave me the impression that he had a lot of self-confidence, with almost the same level of troublesome ego as James.

"I've suggested to Dumbledore to change the Secret Keeper," Sirius began, looking up at the ceiling. He seemed rather weary, as if he hadn't gotten a wink for days. "Voldemort and his Death Eaters know that I'm your butt buddy, James, and they know that I'm the person you trust most. If I continue to be your Secret Keeper, I will put your family in danger." He then turned his attention to Harry, who just fell off the toy broom and rolled around on the sofa. "For the sake of his future, I'll do whatever it takes to keep you two alive."

James sighed, flipping the back of his hair with a hand. Old habits really don't die. "But who would you suggest, then? Remus is out of the question with his werewolf thing and all… Don't tell me you want Peter to be our Secret Keeper?"

"Bingo," Sirius gave James a thumbs-up, then his grin faltered when James wasn't smiling back. "Look, I know what you're thinking, and that is exactly what Voldemort and his cronies are thinking also."

"Well, the thing is, Peter isn't nicknamed 'Wormtail' without a reason. With that skittish personality of his, he won't agree to be our Secret Keeper. He'd rather save his own skin first."

I couldn't believe my ears. "How can you say that about your friend?"

"I'm merely stating the facts," James replied, raising his eyebrows at me. "And you know that I'm right."

"I will convince him," Sirius said, standing up. "Like I have promised you, I will do whatever it takes to keep you all alive. This is the least I can do as your _bestest_ friend, and Harry's godfather."

* * *

**ENTRY #6**

I feel scared. I feel like my heart would stop any moment, but I know I can't fall yet.

I hug Harry closer to my chest.

The moment Voldemort has stepped into our house, we already know the worst had happened. Peter sold us out—Peter was the mole in the Order. He had been working as Voldemort's spy all along.

But it's too late to regret. I can only open my mouth in a silent scream when I hear a loud thud downstairs. James has fallen.

Voldemort is coming for us—for me, and for our precious son.

For Harry.

I know that I won't live another day to watch my child grow up, to send him to Hogwarts… to do so many other things I have dreamed of doing as a family.

This is the last time I can say this to you.

I love you, Harry. Be strong like mum and dad.

_I love you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt:  
> THC | [Y3R5] Short | [Setting] Godric's Hollow

**Author's Note:**

> Oneshots by Tsubasa Kurono.  
>  _Harry Potter_ series © J. K. Rowling.
> 
> Inspirations:  
> "[The Houses Competition](https://www.fanfiction.net/forum/The-Houses-Competition/202668)" by MoonlightForgotten;  
> "[Hogwarts School](https://www.fanfiction.net/forum/Hogwarts-School/206332)" by Swooping Evil;  
> "[Harry Potter Fanfiction Challenges](https://www.fanfiction.net/forum/Harry-Potter-Fanfiction-Challenges/44309)" by various forum members.
> 
> (Originally posted on [FanFiction.Net](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12804830))


End file.
